the joys of moving

Our packers have moved really quickly this week. As of this morning, we were corralled into the conservatory as they were finishing up the rest of the house. Here are DA and B as they did their computer work - UNDER THE TABLE!!!! Laying on the hard tiled floor. Glamorous isn't it?
The sun had such a glare in the conservatory that they couldn't see their screens - they needed the shade of the table top. It's extremely rare to have a sun glare problem in England!

Everything is packed up! Waiting to load it on the truck in the morning.

Summer Solstice

Today is the summer solstice. L wanted me to blog that it wasn't dark yet at 10:20. We love that!!! Had a BBQ at a friend's house to celebrate Father's day. Fun evening.
The summer solstice brings out all the weirdo's to Stonehenge. I guess they had another huge crowd this year - made the news. I stay as far as possible away from that place around this time of year. The druids are just too strange for me.
Spent the rest of the day gathering our things for our suitcases. THE MOVERS ARRIVE TOMORROW. I cant believe our little adventure here is coming to a close. Difficult to pack for so many different situations over 6 weeks and get it all into 2 bags each. Get this - we've never really been known as light packers :-) but for some reason my daughter has decided that we should only travel for all that time with 1 bag each. I'm not sure we can pull that off, but I guess we've been shamed so many times by European taxi drivers - that she now thinks 1 bag for the rest of the summer is just fine. We'll see.....

Henry VIII coronation

This weekend we went to a celebration of the 500th anniversary of King Henry VIII's coronation. They had a big shin dig where the 'king' and his "queen" boarded a flotilla (boat) at the Tower of London and floated down the Thames River to Hampton Court. We missed the arrival on the flotilla, but we did head out to the yew tree garden (the mushroom trees) and had a picnic with several families. Got a kick out of our kids playing American football out in the gardens. I'm sure the little English kids that were standing around trying to get into the game wondered why we had a funny looking brown "rugby" ball.
They did a big fireworks show at the end of the night. We laughed that it wasn't even dark yet when they started the fireworks at 9:45. It wasn't quite as long or as elaborate as what our kids are accustomed to, but it was very nice and will have to do as our July 4th celebration since we will be gone then.
Happy coronation day, Henry!

My favorite place in England

You may think this is a joke, but when thinking back to all the places in London and greater England that we've visited - I have to say one of my absolute favorite places of all is Stoke-on-Trent. Specifically the Burgess and Leigh (Burleigh) factory in Stoke. My own personal OZ!! It is where I bought the transferware pottery that I love. Fortunately, my friends share my love of pottery, so we've have a great time finding pieces. We even had a complete Burleigh tea party a few weeks ago with a full set for 7. Cream tea with homemade scones and clotted cream never tasted so good!

What I love about Burleigh is that it is still being handmade in the same Victorian factory as it has for the last 150 years. Spode and the others are now mainly (or even exclusively) made in Maylasia. If you'd like a little background, check out this webpage. http://www.burleigh.co.uk/burleigh-process.php

No specific reason to post this... I just had to list all our stuff on the insurance shipping forms so I had to spend time today looking up their replacement value. Just made me wish I could have time to visit again before our movers arrive. I wont, but I do have some great memories visiting there. My breakfast tea cup and saucer just make my English tea taste even better. Wonder if it will taste the same in Dallas????

Royal Ascot

My Ascot hat.

Really it's called a "fascinator". It looks like a gravity problem, but it sits at that wonderful angle because it is attached to a discrete little headband. Feel free to laugh. I chuckled everytime I caught a sight of myself.

The Queen, the Queen.... today we went to the Royal Ascot horse races. It was opening day and the most beautiful weather - sunny and 70 degrees. The Queen attends these races. There is a royal procession every day for a mile stretch of the track. It was lots of fun to be so close to her and get a good photo. She was wearing a sunshine yellow coat and hat. Prince Phillip was looking dapper in his top hat.

She is waving at me.... ha!

The Queen's grand entrance - the Royal procession.

One of the only times I've heard the song "God save the Queen". The horse at the rear is having problems because the song started right then and that horse was right beside the speaker.

Ascot is a very famous horse race - at least in England. Famous for the ladies hats and gents in cutaway morning coats and top hats. Really, they wear them!!! We thought we bought the "right" tickets, but come to find out, we were in the equivalent of the outfield seats at a baseball stadium. We were a little frustrated, but when the races finally started we realized we were in a very good location. We had a table right at the track rail. The horses ran right next to us, about 4 feet away. The ground would just rumble as they ran by. Very exciting!

We got a kick out of people watching and checking out all the fancy hats. We - of course - had to buy hats since they are not part of our normal wardrobe. Hats are required in some areas of the grandstands, but "suggested" in the other parts. I only saw a handful of ladies the entire day that weren't wearing a hat. My special hat came from Marks and Spencers. (A fancy "Target") I thought I would see 100s of the same hat, but fortunately only saw a couple. Some ladies go all out and spend hundreds of pounds on their hat - not always money well spent - some crazy, crazy contraptions.

DA kept kidding my friend in the green hat that the local peacocks were circling, wanting their feathers back. I thought it was very pretty.

We had a really fun time. It was a little bittersweet for me though because it will be the last time I see some of these good friends. They are leaving this week for the summer and we will already be back in Texas when they return. sniff, sniff.

Concert at Hampton Court

Summer time brings lots of outdoor concerts in London. One close to home takes place at Hampton Court Palace in one of the large courtyards within the palace.

We went to see James Morrison there. He has officially become my new favorite singer since I saw him perform at the London Olympic celebration last summer. Great show and the palace looked really cool all lit up at night (my gazillionth trip to Hampton Court, but my first visit at night.)

They do something like a "English Tailgate party" out on the grounds before the show. Very civilized and reminded me of "the Grove" at Ole Miss before a football game. Our gang ate at a restaurant instead due to the predicted heavy rains. It was so unusual to attend an outdoor concert that started at 9:00pm and it was still light at that time. Just seems like concerts should start when it's dark outside.

One funny thing is that the tickets specifically said "you must remain seated for the entire performance". That is so awkward since the performer is standing up there rocking out and the audience is quietly sitting staring at him. Finally there were some rebels that started standing. The folks behind got mad, the ushers tried to get folks to sit or go stand at the edge. It was comical. I have never been to a rock concert where people sat the whole time. So weird.
I know he's spent some time in the US, but not nearly as popular there as he is here. Keep an eye out for him - James Morrison, cute, British R&B singer

A fond farewell dinner

The gardens at Great Fosters

Hard to believe that it's already time to start saying our goodbyes, but with school letting out in 10 days, folks will leave the following day for their summer break, so that left this weekend and next for our get togethers. Last night we had a wonderful farewell dinner for the families in our group who are permanently leaving the UK this summer. We picked the historic Great Fosters restaurant to celebrate our time here. It's a really impressive and beautiful place.
It was a great evening with great friends and great food. We will miss them dearly. They've been our family while we've been living our lives on this little island. "Good people" as we say!

Here we are as we took our tea in the great hall (built in the 1500s). Out of the shot is a beautiful fireplace that had a fire burning. (still chilly here!)
As you can see, DA wasn't able to be with us. He's traveling at the moment. We really missed him.

GREAT FOSTERS
History says that it was once the hunting lodge of Henry VIII. There is even an Anne Boleyn room. Henry's daughter, Queen Elizabeth I also stayed at Great Fosters.

(from the website www.greatfosters.co.uk)
At the far end of a wide gravel driveway, Great Fosters stretches out in all its splendour – an outstanding 16th century red-brick house dominating what is believed to be an Anglo-Saxon site, backing onto formal gardens and surrounded on three sides by a moat.

Over the centuries, Great Fosters has been extended, embellished and renovated, yet with each addition the history and charm of the property have been faithfully preserved. Wander through the house and at every turn intricate craftsmanship, celebrated artistry and acclaimed architecture bear testament to Great Fosters’ distinguished past.

The centre of the house is believed to date back to around 1550, when it was most likely built as a symmetrical U-shaped Elizabethan homestead. The slightly larger brickwork in the porch and at the sides of the house suggests a later extension, around 1600.

Elizabethan craftsmen excelled in designing varied styles of tall chimneys, and whilst a bomb blast during the war necessitated all Great Fosters’ chimney pinnacles to be removed, they have been so accurately replicated that they won Great Fosters an award in the 1970s.

Another dominant feature of the house is the windows, all of which are stone mullions and transoms with leaded lights. The History Within Entering Great Fosters through its central porch you walk through a doorway, above which the arms and initials of Queen Elizabeth I date to 1598. From here, a stout inner door gives way to the main hall and the wealth of treasures within.
Here is the "stout" doorway. The tiny door within the large door. This is the main entrance and they had everyone enter through the tiny door. We got a big kick out of it.